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Monday, 19 February 2018

Nigerian Bishop Resigns Over Rejection.

A Nigerian bishop whom Pope Francis had fiercely defended has
resigned after a five-year, sometimes violent, standoff with rebel
priests and faithful who rejected him as an ethnic outsider, the Vatican
said on Monday.The case of the Vatican versus the people of the diocese of Ahiara in
southwestern Nigeria had become a rare battle of wills that tested the
power of papal authority and could set a precedent for future
appointments.

A Vatican statement said the pope had accepted the resignation of Peter Ebere Okpaleke as bishop of the diocese of Ahiara.The vatican said the position had been declared vacant and that a papal administrator would run it for the time being.Many priests and faithful had refused to swear allegiance to Okpaleke
because he is not from Mbaise, a heavily Catholic area in southwestern
Nigeria made up of an amalgam of indigenous clans connected by
intermarriage.

Okpaleke was appointed bishop by then-pope Benedict in 2012, but the protests prevented him from ever taking over the diocese.His installation ceremony took place in another area of Nigeria
because the doors of the Ahiara cathedral were locked so the bishop
could not enter.The situation came to a head in June 2017 when Francis demanded that
all priests in the diocese write him a letter within 30 days pledging
their obedience to and accepting Okpaleke as their bishop because he was
appointed by a pope.

Those who did not write such a letter would face suspension from the
priesthood, the pope told them at the time. Francis also demanded that
the rebellious priests write a letter of apology to Okpaleke.Fides, the Vatican’s missionary news agency, on Monday published
excerpts from Okpaleke’s resignation letter, saying he had not been able
to take possession of diocese or even live within its territory because
of continuing “violent reaction and resistance”.Fides said some 200 priests had written to the pope promising their obedience.

Many had also told the pontiff that they had “psychological
difficulty in collaborating with the bishop after years of conflict”.The agency, which is controlled by the Vatican, said the rebellious
priests should “reflect on the grave damage inflicted on the Church”
through their “unreasonable actions opposing a bishop legitimately
appointed by the Supreme Pontiff”.In his resignation letter, Okpaleke said remaining bishop in the diocese would not be beneficial to the Church.Source: PM News